Maria Caulfield is attacked over her view decriminalising abortion would "completely neglect the rights of the unborn child".

A Tory MP who led opposition to the decriminalisation of abortion has been appointed the party's vice-chair for women, in a move described as "appalling" by campaigners.

Maria Caulfield's promotion has been attacked by Labour and by women's rights groups because she spoke out against a bill, debated in March last year, which would have liberalised abortion laws.

The MP for Lewes, a former nurse, slammed the proposals at the time, saying they "completely neglect the rights of the unborn child" and would lead to "abortions on demand".

Ms Caulfield was one of several new vice-chairs appointed by Theresa May today to refresh her party's operation and broaden its appeal following failures during last year's General Election.

Image:Campaigners were righting to decriminalise abortion

A spokesperson for the British Pregnancy Advice Service tweeted that it was "incredibly disappointed" to hear of the MP's promotion saying she "supports the criminalisation of women who end their own pregnancies".

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BPAS added: "This is not an abstract issue. Women across the UK have prosecution and prison sentences for ending pregnancies using abortion medication bought online.

"These are often women in the most desperate of circumstances. This bill, which despite passing was unable to progress further due to the snap election, sought to protect women who in the most desperate of circumstances use medication purchased online to end a pregnancy.

"That the new Conservative Vice-Chair for Women believes that these women should face up to life imprisonment is appalling."

Theresa May faced a backlash over the issue of abortion last summer when she formed a confidence and supply deal with the Democratic Unionist Party, which has a strict anti-legalisation stance in Northern Ireland.

Image:Theresa May faced a backlash over abortion last summer

Abortion is widely available in the rest of the UK, under the 1967 Abortion Act, which does not decriminalise it but allows it under specific circumstances - including the approval of two doctors - up to 24 weeks.

Otherwise abortion remains a criminal offence under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act.

Labour MP Diana Johnson had sought to change what she called the "Victorian" law so that vulnerable women who buy abortion drugs online, also up to 24 weeks, would not be committing a criminal offence.

Ms Johnson told Sky News that Maria Caufield's arguments were "negative and backwards-looking" and said it was "unfortunate" the Conservative party has promoted her to the post.

She said: "A woman who stood up in parliament last year and argued that abortion should be a criminal offence for women, when one in three women will have an abortion, shows a lack of understanding of the needs of women."

Image:Ms Caulfield was promoted to the Tory top team on Monday

The Labour MP's bill was a so-called Ten Minute Rule Bill, which does not lead to a change in the law but was passed by 172 votes to 142, in an indication of cross-party support for the law change.

It was also backed by the Royal College of Midwives and the British Medical Association.

The Labour MP also drew attention to Ms Caulfield's support for Toby Young's appointment to the board of a new Office for Students - following a series of what she called "dreadful and misogynistic tweets".

The Tory MP triggered a New Year's Day row when she tweeted: "As a working class kid who went to school in the socialist state of Lambeth where more kids ended up in prison than university, why the outrage at the appointment of Toby Young?"